


Loving the Alien

by Skullharvester



Series: Current WIPs [6]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:26:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23868232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullharvester/pseuds/Skullharvester
Summary: Zak Klax is a Vortian engineer who secretly betrayed his own home planet by selling top secret blueprints and research data to the Irken who employed him as his personal double agent.After spending years imprisoned on the conquered Vort, his Irken "friend" has finally returned with the offer to free him and his younger brother, but only under the condition that Zak Klax returned to working for him.This time, he is sent to Earth to collect data from a place of potential value that the Tallest had overlooked in their mockery of Invader Zim: Membrane Labs.  To what end the data will be used, Zak Klax does not know.In the beginning, the Vortian knew he would only be on the planet for a brief while to do a job, and that would be the end of it.  His debt would be paid off, and he and his sibling could go free.  However, after experiencing the compassion of the sentient beings that live on this planet Earth, he's starting to feel doubt about whether or not this is all worth it.He is already a betrayer, but maybe he can redeem himself.  That is, if he can find the courage to do so.(11/18/2020: Another chapter posted, and more to come!)
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple/Almighty Tallest Red/Original Character(s), Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Professor Membrane/Original Character(s)
Series: Current WIPs [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120226
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy and have fun!
> 
> If you liked this tale, please drop me a kudos and/or a comment to let me know if you'd like to see more!
> 
> Thank you, and have a wonderful night!

“Right this way, Prisoner 261,” one of the Irken guards mumbled as he escorted the tall male Vortian engineer out of his cell, after the accompanying guard had cuffed the prisoner’s hands behind his back. 

Lead was perhaps a delicate way of putting it. Really, the guard practically dragged him along towards the visitation chambers. It could have been worse. The Vortian could have been ushered to the facility in the opposite direction they were now headed. He never saw any prisoner who was taken that way ever come back.

Prisoner 261 never had a visitor ever since he’d been locked away here on planet Vort, once it had been thoroughly taken over and converted into a prison for its natives by the Irken race they once called their allies. 

As a bit of a wallflower, he didn’t really have any friends. He had a younger brother and a few co-workers he vaguely knew, but they were all trapped here just as he was. There was just one other person he could think of that might come to visit him. Someone who he thought was his only real friend. Given his current circumstances, he started to wonder if they were ever actually friends at all.

The prisoner was pulled from the thoughts he dwelt on abruptly when he was shoved into a seat in a room that had a translucent shield serving as a barrier between him and his visitor who sat across from him in the adjacent room. His suspicion was confirmed when he glanced up and saw a familiar face smirking back at him in a way he’d become accustomed to. As if nothing bad had ever happened.

“Guk…” It was hard for the Vortian to utter out the name without scowling, so he turned his gaze towards the ground, deciding to glare at the tile flooring instead. He just didn’t have the nerve to challenge the grinning Irken seated across from him.

“Zak Klax,” the Irken, quite tall himself for his species yet clearly not one of the Tallest, responded in a manner that was almost nostalgic. “Bashful as ever, I see. You really should work on that, you know. I worry about you, being here and all. People tend to take advantage of the shy ones in prison systems.”

The Vortian tried to turn his glare towards Guk, but he couldn’t hold the expression. Zak Klax looked like a cornered and wounded animal, which just made the Irken’s grin widen, causing him to appear all the more like a predator.

Guk reached up to his own face, removed the shutter shades he wore, and tapped a finger underneath one of his oval-shaped teal eyes. “Who gave you the shiner?” he asked when he’d noticed the dark black circle around Zak Klax’s eyelids on one side of his face.

Zak Klax broke eye-contact again, opting to pretend to read the advertisements that scrolled across his visitor’s torso on the LED suit he wore, which basically made the Irken look like a walking billboard. Guk was pretty slender for one, but the distracting flashing logos and sales prices were visible enough even on his lithe frame.

“Why did you come here, Guk? Just to humiliate me? I should have never given you that data disc… What happened to Vort is all my fault,” he rambled, avoiding the Irken’s question under the suspicion that Guk was playing yet another game with him.

Guk exhaled sharply and made a face that suggested feigned offense taken. “Zak, how could you? Are you implying that I was the one behind all of this? I’m your best frien-”

“Guk, you’re the advisor to the current standing Tallest,” Zak Klax pointed out, meeting his eyes only for just a moment, just so that he could measure the Irken’s guilt. Did Guk even have a conscience? Did any Irken, for that matter? 

He noticed over the years that their species had a few odd behavioral quirks. The Irkens weren’t a particularly empathetic people, from what he observed. 

In the past, he merely mistook them as being ignorant to their own rudeness, or just not having much awareness of Vortian social norms. Zak Klax always liked to give people the benefit of the doubt. Guk made him live to regret that.

After putting his shades back on, Guk steepled his hands together, elbows resting on the table on his side of the barrier and leaned forward. “Be that as it may, and may that as it be…”

_Ugh, he’s stalling – trying to think of some excuse to feed me,_ the Vortian thought to himself. He never picked up on it before, but now he could more easily spot the mannerisms Guk tended towards when he was in the middle of spinning a tale. They were just little things – easy to miss if you didn’t know his character.

“Honestly, I tried to _stop_ this little… merger arrangement,” Guk said, trying to find lighter words to describe what was basically enslavement of the entire Vortian race. “But an advisor can only advise. If Big Red and Purp – er… The Tallest choose not to go along with my advice, then it is what it is, you know what I mean? Personally, I thought the Vortians and we Irkens worked better as a team.” 

Guk rolled his eyes underneath his shutter shades and made a gesture with his hands as if trying to recall some saying. “Buuut, you know what they say about “Doogubloogs that excrete golden globules”, and all that.” He forced a less-than-sincere chuckle. “They kind of wanted to hurry up and improve Irken tech tenfold on the double by just… kinda taking everything like right now, and forcing you guys to pump out new inventions for us at a rate even faster than before. On the cheap, you know?” 

After watching the Vortian’s expression for a moment, and seeing that his disappointment was increasing, the Irken hurried to try and console him with more nice-sounding rambling. “It’s nothing personal, Zak. It’s just that, well, our empire is in a little bit of debt right now, and we couldn’t exactly afford to keep paying our Vortian allies the rate that we’d agreed upon. 

“Maybe, just maybe, once we get a little more monies going again, everything can go back to the way they used to be, eh?” He flashed one of his trademark smiles that Zak swore he must keep in a box somewhere at home.

Slowly, Zak Klax rose from his chair onto his pointed legs with a long sigh, and once he was up, he butted his head into the barrier as hard as he could manage. It cracked just a little – particularly in the spots where the horns on either side of his head jutted out but didn’t fully break. Guk was startled by the sudden movement, and nearly had fallen backwards in his seat.

The Vortian’s beady red eyes were shut tightly while his head throbbed in agony. His sharp teeth bit into his bottom lip so hard that it drew a small amount of blood. “Well, it was worth trying, anyway,” he grumbled, turning his back to his visitor. “Just… Call the guards back in here. I’m done talking to you.”

“But you haven’t even heard my proposal, Zak,” Guk hummed. It didn’t take him long to regain his senses after the Vortian’s bold attempt to attack him.

Zak Klax peered over his shoulder curiously, yet with a hint of skepticism. “What do you mean?”

It took some effort on Guk’s part to hold back from giggling when he had the Vortian’s attention back. “I wouldn’t have gone through the effort of coming here in person if I just wanted to chat. I came here because I want to free you.”

“You…” The Vortian swallowed hard, struggling to process the words at first. It sounded too good to be true, and he feared that it was. “What’s the catch?”

Guk finally let out a laugh, splaying his hands out on the table while leaning his chair over on its back legs in his amusement. The chair legs then smacked back down against the ground abruptly. “I could use your expertise again, Zak. I miss us. Don’t you?”

Zak Klax clenched his jaw for a moment. “There was never any _us_ , Guk…”

“Oh, come on!” The Irken placed one hand against the barrier, in a spot where it was cracked. “We made a great duo. All I’m asking is for you to build a gadget or two for me under the table like old times.”

The Vortian took a deep breath. “You left out the part where I-”

“Details, details… Look at it this way: Isn’t it a better alternative to just wasting away in here working on a factory line during the day, and sleeping in an uncomfortable cell at night?” Guk smiled. “And of course, I’d set your brother free, too. I know you probably don’t really care what happens to you, but don’t you want better for poor Lard Nar?”

Zak Klax practically froze up at the mention of his younger brother’s name. He always hated it when Guk would get him involved, but in this case, it made him significantly more compelled to consider Guk’s offer. He sat back down in his chair and scooted closer towards the Irken.

“Couldn’t _you_ get in trouble for breaking us out of prison?” he whispered conspiratorially.

Guk murmured back, “Nah, of course not, because I’ll be doing it fair and square as far as anyone else is concerned.” He shrugged. “I have nothing but confidence that you and your brother would be clever enough to survive The Gauntlet of Judgment.”

Narrowing his eyes, the Vortian hissed, “ _You’d put us through that depraved death trap of a game show of yours? Haven’t we suffered enough for Irken entertainment?_ ”

Guk put his hands up defensively. “I have to make it at least a little convincing, don’t I? Now I know it sounds horrible, but obviously I’m going to rig it to ensure that the two of you make it out alive.”

A moment passed as the Vortian mulled things over. “I don’t suppose I have much of a choice, really, do I?” His gaze was a pleading one, although he already knew it would do little to persuade Guk. 

The Irken didn’t so much as blink at him. “It’s up to you, Zak. I will warn you, though: This could be the only opportunity I ever get to see you again, so if you turn my offer down… Well, I hope it’s a decision you’re happy with. That’s all I can say.”

“I… Fine,” Zak Klax whispered, his eyes turning downward.

“Hmm? I didn’t hear your answer,” Guk replied with a playful sound to his voice.

Their eyes met once again, and Zak Klax was now glaring. “I agree to your terms, but only if you promise me that my brother will be safe!”

The wide grin returned to Guk’s thin green lips. “Of course, Zak. What are friends for?”


	2. Chapter 2

At the center of a massive stadium, a platform – no, a stage, was slowly risen into the air until it loomed over the eager crowd seated in the stands. Lights emitting from the stage’s floor shone were pointed at a lone figure, who held his arms outstretched in a dramatic pose while he awaited his cue of the stage coming to a halt. Fog billowed around the stage from built-in fog machines, making it look like he was stood atop a cloud.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and everything else out there scattered across the stars! Wiggle your antennae and clap your applauding appendages together for The Gauntlet of Judgment! I am your host, as always, Advisor Guk! Are you ready for _justice_!?”

No matter how many times he performed this same introduction, euphoria rushed through his veins as excited screams erupted from the crowd afterward. It never got old for the Irken. He was born for this. The Control Brains that designated his creation just didn’t know that at first, until he had Zak give them a little persuading before Guk’s ascendance to the title of royal advisor to the Almighty Tallest.

Every day of his life now was like a dream come true. Guk had everything he could have wished for now. Well… _Almost_ everything, he thought to himself as he caught a glimpse of Tallest Red and Tallest Purple from their private box among the stands, and noticed them locked in what appeared to be an amusing conversation that was just between the two of them.

Ever since their days as Irken Invaders, Guk practically lived to put a smile on their faces, but as time went by, he realized that they would never smile for him in quite the exact way they often would for each other. They’d laugh at one another’s jokes the hardest, even though they weren’t particularly funny. Neither one of them were particularly good conversationalists, yet they always enjoyed each other’s company the most. The two would share secrets that even Guk would never hear.

Guk gave them everything he had, and yet even now, he was still never truly part of their _real_ “inner circle”. The one that contained just the two of them. He’d thought that maybe, if he’d seen to it that they were both appointed as the new Tallest, when Tallest Spork had unexpectedly met his demise…

Now was not the time to dwell on these things. It was what it was, and right now, he had a show to host.

“Then let’s meet our contestants!” he cried out, and the crowd roared again. A little light show of thin lasers sprang up behind him, seeming to dance as they flickered between different bright colors.

The hovering platform lowered back down to the ground, below the stands. A door slid open, and several prisoners of a variety of species shuffled out in a line, guided by Irken guards over to the platform. Some of the prisoners were even Irken themselves, but most of them belonged to alien races.

Guk grinned eagerly as he saw two familiar prisoners at the head of the line, and he placed a hand on the shoulder of the taller prisoner. “Our first contestants are a pair of Vortian scientists from the recently-conquered planet Vort! Zak Klax and his younger brother Lard Nar! They have been determined to be acceptable candidates for The Gauntlet of Judgment for their family’s _loyal_ service to the Irken Empire! Give them a round of applause!”

Just barely audible under the audience’s cheers, Lard Nar mumbled to his elder sibling while the guards behind them urged them over to the other side of the stage. “I can’t believe you agreed to this after how he tricked you the last time, brother…”

Zak Klax withered a little at Lard Nar’s piercing stare that was fully visible to him, even though the shorter Vortian had green-tinted goggles on. “I… can’t believe it, either, Nar…”

“You love him still, don’t you?” Lard Nar snapped accusingly. His jaw hung open, appalled when Zak Klax reflexively averted his gaze in guilt. “Brother, please tell me that you don’t-”

“- Bloopsty of Plookesia!” 

This time, the growing sound of the crowd made it impossible for the Vortian brothers to continue with their conversation. It would have to wait until another time. Assuming they survived all of this.

Several more names were introduced, and while Zak Klax found it quaint to finally have a name and rough background for all the faces, he had the sneaking suspicion that none of them were going to get the opportunity later to start forming friendships. 

A part of him wished that Guk would have insisted on reserving the introductions for the victors, when there were any, but he knew that would mean the audience would have a harder time distinguishing which ones they wanted to place bets on.

The more he thought about the nature of this “game show”, the more it sickened him. In the past, Guk tried to explain that its purpose was to give dangerous criminals a second chance at life, but Zak Klax nor his brother could ever bring themselves to actually watch one of these events. 

Now that he himself was a contestant, Zak Klax knew that Guk’s use of the term “dangerous criminal” was highly exaggerated. Many of them weren’t criminals at all, by common universal moral guidelines. But going by Irk’s laws, it was a different story.

“A-Are you nervous, too?” asked a small voice that Zak Klax didn’t notice the owner to at first, until he looked down. 

Stood next to him was a tiny alien, even smaller in stature than Lard Nar was. She had big cutesy eyes, and Zak Klax had a difficult time picturing her as a wrong doer. Lard Nar peered around his brother to see her, probably imagining the same thing.

“I don’t think I heard what Guk said when he announced you as a contestant,” Lard Nar said to the alien. “What crime did you commit?”

“Being non-Irken on an Irken-controlled planet,” she replied in her sweet voice. “I really didn’t mean to! I would have fled my homeworld, but I had no idea that they were coming! I feel really bad about it, to be honest. I’ve never broken a law before! My parents would have been ashamed if they didn’t get vaporized first!”

The two Vortians exchanged pained glances when the tiny alien girl began sobbing hysterically. Over the years, Zak Klax always did his best to be patient with the Irken species, back when they and Vortians were both allies. They just seemed so misunderstood by the rest of the galaxy. 

Sure, they were annoying and extremely pushy, but sometimes they could be entertaining company. In a way, their assertive nature was complimentary alongside the much more passive and introverted Vortians. 

Despite all the red flags, Zak Klax never imagined they were _cruel_. He wasn’t the only Vortian with this mindset, either. Many of them gave the Irkens the benefit of the doubt. Even so, in retrospect, Zak Klax felt like an idiot for not seeing the truth sooner.

A large, hulking alien caught the Vortians’ attention with a sharp whistle and shot them an ugly look. In a threatening gesture, he dragged one of his large fingers across his neck with an accompanying grotesque sound effect. “I sense that you are friends with the scrawny green man in the suit. It will not save you. They are not sending me back to Moo-Ping 10. I will kill if I have to for my freedom.”

While Zak Klax tried to keep a calm expression and ignore the warning, Lard Nar had a difficult time keeping his own knees from trembling.

“Let the games begin!” Guk shouted, signaling to the pyrotechnics crew off-camera to start blasting pillars of flames from the spouts positioned around the stage.

Already, one of the unlucky prisoners standing too close to one of the spouts burst into a raging inferno. Apparently, in an ironic turn of events, the alien was of a race that was highly flammable, and not much could be done to save it at that point. 

To their credit, the guards did try to extinguish the prisoner, but they just couldn’t keep up with the running alien. The crowd, however, treated it as all part of the show since it was known for its unfair brutality.

Without missing a beat, Guk said to the audience in his usual chipper manner, “And already one contestant is down! This has to be a new record in Gauntlet of Judgment history!” Gleeful, he looked back to the prisoner, now a pile of ash on the ground that the guards were awkwardly trying to do something with. “Forget calling a mortician! Somebody call the janitor!”

Why did Zak Klax ever like this guy?

“What a shame,” Guk continued. “That prisoner seemed like a real runner, too. I would have liked to see what he could’ve done in this week’s trial: The Path to Redemption!” 

With a showy gesture of his hand, an assortment of wicked-looking obstacles emerged from trap doors around the stadium, and the floors lit up to form what appeared to be a sprinting track. 

When Guk used to try and describe his game show, he made it sound to Zak Klax almost like some kind of rehabilitation program. Physical trials that would in turn change the hearts and minds of guilty prisoners for the better, so that they could go back out into the galaxy as functioning members of society once again. This wasn’t the picture the Irken had painted in Zak Klax’s mind. This wasn’t rehabilitation, it was attempted murder.

Before Zak Klax could call Guk out and demand answers, they were once again ushered around by the guards. This time, they were taken to the starting line for the race. Vortians were nimble, due to their slender frames similar to that of the Irkens, as well as the added advantage of having thin digitigrade legs that ended in sharp points. Even though they were built for speed, having evolved as carnivores, the Vortian brothers were still skeptical that it would be enough to overcome the deadly-looking obstacles.

Reaching into his suit coat, Guk pulled out a small blaster pistol. “On your marks…” He aimed the gun towards the sky. “Get set…” He repositioned it. “Go!” While most of the contestants broke off into a sprint, one of the prisoners – an Irken, was shot in the back by the “misfired” blaster.

Zak Klax instinctively turned his head to look over his shoulder just for a moment when he heard someone cry out in pain followed by a thud.

Guk smiled sheepishly at the audience, pretending to be embarrassed, as he put the pistol away. “Gaaaah, darn it! This is the third time my hand’s slipped like that. I’m really getting rusty with a blaster ever since I left my military career!” 

Unsurprisingly, the crowd chuckled as if they were watching lighthearted sitcom, and at that point, Zak Klax had to bring himself to focus again on the track ahead of him. His eyes widened and he gasped when he nearly ran right into an obstacle face-first. It was a tall hurdle covered in spikes, though his younger sibling was short enough to slide right under the gap below it with ease.

“Brother, pay attention! Your life depends on it!” Lard Nar shrieked, running alongside his older brother.

They both jumped over a cavernous hole in the ground, where trap doors had flung open to reveal the daunting drop. The bulky alien who had threatened them earlier was not much of a leaper and would have fallen inside if it weren’t for his strong arms that caught the ledge. 

As another prisoner hopped over the gap, the burly alien grabbed the prisoner by the leg, and threw them into the depths below. Their scream echoed, until they eventually faded away entirely. The large alien climbed back out of the trap, and resumed lumbering after the other racers.

One after another, the number of contestants dwindled nearly every obstacle they encountered along the way. Much of it was due to their own folly, but some of it was caused by the desperation of other prisoners who would do anything to live to see another day. On the plus side, the Vortian brothers were in the lead, and things were looking hopeful at least for them.

In between panting, Lard Nar shouted, “Duck!” 

Zak Klax did so without hesitation, trusting his advice, and narrowly avoided decapitation. Honestly, if they couldn’t do this as a team, they probably wouldn’t have made it this far.

The older Vortian’s antennae-like horns began to twitch as he heard something approaching from behind. Whatever it was, it was big. Zak Klax caught a glimpse of what it was – the massive prisoner whom he was certain must have been eliminated early on into the race.

The larger prisoner grinned confidently. “Bet you thought I was too big to be fast. I was only saving my stamina,” he bragged while chasing after the brothers.

Lard Nar yelped when he felt the giant’s hand swing above his head, just going by the gust of wind that accompanied the attempt to swat him off the track. He ran faster, albeit reluctantly since he didn’t want to ditch his sibling and leave him to the whims of the monster. He just hoped that Zak Klax would be able to catch up quickly…

“All alone now, eh?” the hulking alien said with a chuckle, stomping inches behind the tall Vortian. “Too bad for you.”

Zak Klax was grappled by the waist tightly, and the first thing that entered his mind was the sobering thought that it was over for him. He was brought down to the ground hard, and his vision blurred when his head made impact. His horns did little to protect him from the fall.

In the distance, he saw Lard Nar running back to him, unable to abandon him like this even though he could have easily gone on to win the race. At least, Zak Klax hoped that would have been the case. 

This isn’t how it was supposed to end. Guk promised that things would be rigged in their favor. That they would-…

Zak Klax’s stomach sank when a particular thought crossed his mind. What if Guk only wanted to kill them, just to tie up loose ends? To ensure that no one who knew his darkest secrets lived?

The older Vortian scientist wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

What happened next seemed like a fever dream almost. The hallucinations of someone who knew they were about to be pummeled to death, maybe. A massive pillar descended from the sky and crushed his attacker to death. Unfortunately, Zak Klax’s legs were trapped underneath, too. The pain was so sudden and so agonizing that he blacked out right then and there. 

The last thing he heard was the sound of Lard Nar screaming his name.


	3. Chapter 3

When Zak Klax had finally awoken, he was nearly blinded by the bright lights surrounding him. He expected to wake up on the racing track at the stadium, still pinned underneath the large alien that tried to take him out of the competition, but it looked like he was in some kind of Irken medical bay. 

Truth be told, he didn’t fully trust his own senses at the moment. He felt so lightheaded. He assumed at first that he was just groggy from the fainting spell he had, but it wasn’t only that. The Vortian was put under heavy sedation. To him, it seemed like overkill, but he suspected it was to prevent him from fleeing.

A blurry green figure loomed over him beside his cot. The distorted white shape that appeared gave him a fairly good idea of who it was. 

“I knew you’d come-to sooner or later,” Guk insisted, reaching down to pat the Vortian’s head between his horns. “I have to admit – it was pretty impressive to see your little brother drag you all the rest of the way to the finish line in the state that you were in. All while crying his eyes out with goggles on! Not that there was much of a distance left to go… So, how does it feel to be a winner, Zak?”

Zak Klax reached out to grasp the Irken’s forearm helplessly for some semblance of support while he tried to get out of bed. Against his will, he was pushed back down, and made a whining grunt of frustration.

“I really wouldn’t recommend trying to go anywhere,” the advisor warned carefully.

“G-Guk, I can’t feel my legs,” Zak Klax whimpered in a hazy panic, clutching the arm tighter.

The Irken’s eyes traveled down to the blanket covering the Vortian’s lower half. “About that…”

When Zak Klax moved his hands to the blanket, Guk stopped him midway. “Zak, I just want you to know that it looks worse than it really is, and I don’t want you to panic!”

Now thoroughly panicking, Zak Klax flung the covers off himself, and felt ill the moment he saw the damage.

“The medics couldn’t salvage much,” Guk tried to explain. “Most of the bones were fractured beyond repair, and your blood circulation had been cut off for too long, I guess.”

Below the engineer’s thighs were only stitched-up nubs that bled heavily through the bandaging wrapped around them. In his drugged-up state, Zak Klax couldn’t accept that this was his new reality. It felt too surreal and distant, what with the sedatives blocking off the immense pain he was sure he’d be in if it were this bad.

When he turned his head, Zak Klax was a little alarmed to spot one of the Tallest – Tallest Purple, poking his head inside the privacy curtains. He’d never actually seen one of the Tallest this close before, and Tallest Purple was clearly staring in morbid curiosity.

“How gross is it? It’s super gross, right?” he asked, peering from Zak Klax to Guk. He’d thought about entering since he no doubt had the authority to if he pleased, but was feeling a little too squeamish to go through with it.

Tallest Red’s hand reached inside, and yanked Purple’s head back out from between the curtains. “Oh, will you just let Guk deal with it?” he scolded his co-leader. Then, in a barely hushed tone, he murmured, “…So was it gross?”

Guk massaged the temples of his forehead to help relieve his spontaneous headache. “One second,” he told Zak Klax, who was clearly still distressed.

The Irken advisor brushed past the curtains and spoke to the Tallest in a low voice. “Could you give us a moment, fellas?” he plead.

“The Massive is our ship, Guk! We can go wherever we want…” Purple folded his arms in a childish pout.

Overhearing that they were apparently on the most high-security ship in the entire Irken Armada made Zak Klax even more shaken. That really didn’t bode well for the potential of him or his brother seeing freedom. Where was Lard Nar, anyway?

Red sighed at Guk and gestured to Purple. “He _just_ wants to see a maimed Vortian. C’mon, Guk, don’t be such a joy-kill.”

“I know, Big Red, I know… But now’s just not a great time. I’ve got some important Irken official stuff that needs handling. You know, so you guys don’t have to?” Guk gave the two Tallest a lopsided reassuring smirk. “Tell you what: You two go chill over at the command deck, and I’ll have some snacks and drinks sent over. Then when I’m done here, I’ll do a little puppet show for you guys. How does that sound?”

Red and Purple both pumped their arms excitedly. “Oh, hey, that reminds me! We need to show you the new puppets we made when we were bored yesterday,” Red mentioned.

“I think we fixed the whole heads falling off thing,” Purple added with a nod. “…Hey, for our drinks, could you let the snack drones know that we want silly straws? I really miss those.”

Red turned and huffed at Purple. “Aw, but those just make it take forever to actually get a sip of soda!”

“But it’s neat getting to watch the soda go through all those loops, Red!” Purple whined, throwing his arms up in the air. When he thought of another idea, he turned back towards Guk. “We should totally have curly fries with our curly straws!”

Guk calmly removed his shades, tucked them into the collar of his suit, and rubbed his entire face. When he put his hands back down, he grumbled, “Yeah, okay, we’ll have _everything_ curly! Just go!”

Purple gasped. “Even the ice!?”

Red pondered for a moment. “What about the cups?”

“YES, FINE!” Guk probably should have thought it over before agreeing to the ridiculous asks, but it wasn’t really his problem. The servants would just have to figure out how they were going to fulfill the unusual orders. They always scrambled to come up with _something_.

In unison while hovering off, they exclaimed, “Yeah!!!”

“You’re the best, Guk!” Red called out from afar.

The advisor groaned, shaking his head as he disappeared behind the curtains again. “Sorry about that, Zak.”

Meanwhile, Zak Klax was just kind of sinking into his cot, staring up at the ceiling with an expression of internal conflict on his face. “My legs are gone, Guk.”

“I realize this, Zak…” The Irken took a seat on the traumatized Vortian’s bedside, looking him over with mild concern.

Not sure of how to make the awkward situation any better, Guk fished around in the pockets inside of his suit and pulled out a half-eaten bag of jerky. He offered it to Zak Klax. “Snack?”

The Vortian narrowed his beady eyes at the Irken, indicating that the gesture was hardly going to solve his life problems. Guk shrugged and began to eat the food himself.

“You know,” Guk began to say, only stopping to swallow his current mouthful of jerky. “It’s too bad you’re not Irken. The mechanical limbs that come in a PAK make getting around pretty easy.”

Zak Klax sighed. “Thanks, Guk. You always knew how to cheer me up by reminding me of all the things I don’t have going for me,” he replied sarcastically.

Guk rolled his eyes. “Give me a break, Zak. I’m an advisor, not a therapist.”

“Would you like to rip off my arms, and throw them out the airlock just for good measure?”

“Zak, stop being so melodramatic.”

“ _I just had my bones smashed into paste because of you, and you’re telling me I’m being melodramatic?_ ”

The Irken waved a hand dismissively. “All I’m saying is that some contestants have complained less over that in the past.”

Zak Klax was clearly done with the infuriating conversation. “Where is my brother?”

“Ah, right. That. We had to take him to a holding cell on the ship while we patched you up. He was being hysterical, and it made it difficult for the medics to do their job. 

“And before you ask, no, they didn’t hurt him.” Out of Guk’s PAK came a mechanical arm holding a small monitor. He tapped on the screen to type something out, then the arm retracted back inside the PAK. “I just sent a message to security. They ought to bring him here to see you shortly, now that you’re awake and apparently doing fine enough to bust my hump.”

Zak Klax nodded, and turned his head to face away from the Irken. It was only now sinking in how surreal it was after all that had transpired in past years, here they were talking to each other just like they did in the “good old days” of their relationship. If there ever _was_ such a thing. Zak Klax wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Sad? Angry? Happy?

As that last considered emotion lingered, he felt a warmth envelop his hand. When he looked over, he saw that Guk was holding it in his gloved one. Peering up into the Irken’s eyes curiously, he noted that Guk was now giving him as warm of a smile that someone as cold-blooded as him could manage.

Zak Klax hated how easy it was for Guk to make him forget how mad he was with him sometimes. More than that, he was all the madder at himself for wanting to forgive him. Maybe Lard Nar was right to suggest that he still loved Guk. Zak Klax thought that his time spent imprisoned on Vort had changed that and had completely embittered himself towards Guk. Now he wasn’t so sure.

The Vortian’s heart ached in an instant when Guk withdrew his hand quickly as an Irken soldier had finally arrived to drop off Lard Nar. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised, when the nature of their complicated relationship had always been a guarded secret.

“Do you want me to stay, just in case, advisor?” the soldier asked Guk.

Guk shook his head no. “I’ve got everything under control. You can return to your post.”

The shorter Irken nodded, though he eyed Lard Nar skeptically for a moment. “Just be careful. This one bites.” He took a few cautious steps away when Lard Nar stared him down.

This made the taller Irken chuckle. “Oh, trust me, I know.” 

He made a shooing motion, and the soldier reluctantly left. When he was gone, Guk rolled up his sleeve, and began rubbing at an old bite mark on his wrist. Vortian teeth, as it turned out, were exceptionally viscous even though they, as a species, came across as rather innocuous. Once they clamped down, it was rough trying to get them off without losing pieces.

Lard Nar finally had a chance to get a good look at what had happened to his older brother and was utterly horrified to see the disfigurement. “Th..They had to amputate them? Was that really necessary?”

Brushing his sleeve back down, Guk side-eyed Lard Nar. “Hey, you saw how he looked when we carried him in here. I’m pretty sure that, while Vortian legs have some weird curves to them, they’re not supposed to have _that_ many curves…”

“Does it hurt?” the younger Vortian ventured a guess. He hopped up onto the side of the bed opposite to where Guk was sitting.

Zak Klax gave a faint smile, trying to hide his discomfort. “Oh, I’m sure it’ll be awful when the medicine numbing the pain runs out.”

“I’ll try to keep you on that stuff for as long as I can,” Guk chimed in.

“It’s the least you could do after getting him into this whole mess!” Lard Nar retorted, glaring a the Irken scornfully. It was good that Zak Klax was laying between them to keep them separate from each other. Things really were just like old times.

“What? Did you think I was going to just smuggle you guys off Vort in garbage cans?” Guk scoffed, feeling that both brothers had pretty unrealistic expectations when it came to giving them their freedom back. “My methods were necessary. There really was no better way.”

Wishing to avoid seeing his sibling try to bicker with Guk, since it did no good for him, Zak Klax tried to change the subject. “Nar? Can I ask you to do me a favor?”

Lard Nar’s expression softened as he scooted closer to his older brother and patted his upper arm comfortingly. “Always, brother. What is it?”

“I get the feeling I won’t be healthy enough to leave this cot for a while, so I want you to go ahead and leave without me.” The words were hard to say, but Zak Klax had a feeling that it would be for the best. As expected, both Lard Nar and Guk were shocked by the idea.

“Your brother can stay on the Massive until you’re better,” Guk blurted out first. “What? Do you think I, er… _the Tallest_ are going to change their minds about letting you go when you two technically won The Gauntlet of Judgment?”

“I’m more concerned about the minds of the Control Brains,” Zak Klax admitted with a sad smile.

Guk tittered slightly, holding up an upturned hand in a shrug. “It’s not like you’ve had any problems with changing their minds in the past…”

Lard Nar glanced between the two suspiciously, wondering about the context of the conversation. There were so many things that they used to get up to that his brother kept secret from him, and it was sorely disappointing.

“I don’t think we should keep risking it. It was already a pretty big gamble the first time, and we almost got caught,” Zak Klax argued politely. “Would you mind getting my brother a ship?”

The Irken advisor stroked his chin as he contemplated the request. “Well I don’t know about a whole ship, Zak…”

“What about father’s ship?” Lard Nar piped up, drawing their interest. His horns flexed nervously when they looked at him expectantly, and he wondered if perhaps his idea would be a silly one. “I somehow doubt that the Irken Empire has had the chance to search that old hangar, since it’s easy to miss orbiting Vort.”

“That’s kind of a long shot, Nar,” Zak Klax admitted. “And besides, we hardly ever got to test that thing out with a real flight ever since we fixed it before… everything that happened. The faster-than-light travel systems could still be all kinds of screwed up. What if you accidentally transported yourself directly towards a sun, or something?”

Lard Nar frowned, feeling foolish for bringing it up in the first place. He really did appreciate that Zak Klax worried about his safety, but sometimes it felt that his older brother had little faith in his competency. He wasn’t a youngling anymore. Before the Irkens took over their home, Lard Nar was doing quite well for himself as a scientist in his own respects. 

He wished he’d gotten more time to prove to his brother that he knew how to take care of himself just fine now. Zak Klax did practically have to raise him when their parents died when Lard Nar was still very small, and it was probably just hard for him to forget the days when Lard Nar could hardly even dress himself.

Zak Klax probably noticed his sulking, because he eventually sighed and said, “I’m sorry – I shouldn’t baby you so much. I just don’t want you to end up in a situation like, well, this.” He draped the covers back over his stumps, weary of having to see them. “If you can secure the old ship, go for it. Just be careful, alright?”

Ecstatic, Lard Nar hugged his brother around the neck. “I promise I won’t let you down!” He sat back up, grinning toothily.

Guk chuckled at the younger Vortian’s enthusiasm, finding it a little bit endearing. He felt it was almost a shame that they didn’t get along. 

Nevertheless, he reached into a compartment in his PAK, dug out a pair of keys, and tossed them to Lard Nar.

The young Vortian scientist just barely caught them in his palms, and examined them curiously. Particularly the little fuzzy keychain that made him flinch when it started squirming as if it were a living creature of some kind.

“Those are the keys to an old Voot Cruiser. The invader who used to own it is long gone, and Zak here modified it a while back. You shouldn’t have to worry about popping up on any patrol cruiser’s radars if you just fly really slow and avoid flying in a perfectly straight line,” Guk explained, running a hand over his antennae nonchalantly. 

“Zak’s told me in the past that you’re a pretty good pilot, so I trust you with it. I want it back, though, once you’ve found your ship, alright “Captain Lard Nar”?” The Irken snickered playfully at the little nickname. “The Massive’s hangar is pretty hard to miss. If anyone alerts me that they’ve spotted you running around unattended, I’ll bail you out, but I prefer you sneak out undetected. Nobody will think anything about that Voot Cruiser leaving the hangar, if they assume it’s just me in there.”

Lard Nar pocketed the keys and nodded as he committed the instructions to memory. It sounded pretty easy. He was just a little concerned that it seemed Guk already had it all figured out. “Fair enough…” 

He looked back to Zak, who flashed him a reassuring smile, but it did little to ease the guilt of leaving his side once again. “I promise I’ll hurry, brother.”

Zak Klax patted him on the back. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere like this. I’ll be fine. Just make sure that _you’re_ safe. We’ll worry about me later. Focus on getting the ship, okay?”

After the siblings had said their goodbyes, with the younger brother nearly tearing up at one point, Lard Nar eventually went about his way to secure the Voot Cruiser and begin his search. Once they were alone again, Guk peered down at Zak Klax distractedly.

“So, you know about that little agreement we made?” Guk brought up. Now probably wasn’t a great time, all things considered, but he knew he had to mention it at some point. Zak Klax understandably exhaled with a twinge of irritation in reaction to his boldness.

“Yeah, let me hop right to it,” Zak Klax jeered jokingly.

The Irken seemingly pretended to not hear the remark, continuing along with his train of thought. “I actually have a bit of a special mission for you. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, you’re really the only one I’d trust for this sort of thing.”

“I thought the agreement was that I’d be developing new tech for you?” the Vortian pointed out.

Guk bobbed his head, not forgetting in the slightest. “Yeah, I know. This’ll help with that, really. I’ll wait until you heal up fully before I go into detail about it, but just hear me out before you say yes or no. So you remember that Zim guy, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Zak Klax was unsure why he was humoring Guk in the first place, but he didn’t expect the Irken to just drop the subject if he objected to listening. “What about?”

“I guess I’ve been paying special attention whenever he calls up the Massive to talk to the Tallest. During the whole Assigning debacle, I thought it was funny that they got the idea to just send him off to some random backwater planet just to be rid of him, but…” 

Guk sighed, pretending to be interested in his hands as he flexed his fingers idly. He looked back over at Zak Klax. “I found myself getting more and more curious about this planet, so I did a bit of digging. I might have sent a probe or two, just to get a look at the place.”

Zak Klax’s intrigue rose a little, but he was cautious about making it too obvious. “Are the probes still there?”

“Er, no. Sadly… I think the natives might be a little hostile, or just really stupid. I can’t tell. The first probe was mauled by some… hairy thing, and the second was in the process of getting dismantled before I had to initiate the self-destruct sequence.” Guk shook his head in disappointment, folding his arms. “But I did learn a few things about the planet. Particularly on my second attempt. I managed to find out that there’s some kind of laboratory there that produces some pretty interesting technology.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Zak Klax interrupted in a flat tone of voice, frowning deeply.

“I want you to go there, infiltrate the place, and send back any research data or blueprints you can get your hands on,” Guk finished, regardless of the Vortian’s displeasure. “It’ll be like old times! And maybe, just maybe, while you’re there, you could finish some of the projects they’ve started. That way, I’ll have more complete data to work with.”

Zak Klax sat up in his bed with a pained grunt, taking care not to unhook any of the IV drips connected to himself. He steepled his hands together and held his fingertips up to his lips. “So, let me get this straight: You want me to basically do the work of an Irken invader, but this time, you want me to betray someone _else’s_ planet, rather than my own?”

Guk shrugged. “Ehh, I feel like that’s simplifying it a little _too_ much, but more or less. Yeah.”

The Vortian exhaled exaggeratedly. He could see why initially the Control Brains wanted to reassign Guk to the task of training new Irken invaders. Zak Klax wasn’t even Irken himself, and yet, he felt Guk had taught him all the qualifications during their time spent together working as a team.

Before Zak Klax could give him a solid no, Guk immediately hurried to instill some confidence in the proposed mission. “And as always, I’ll provide all the equipment you’ll need, and I’ll keep in touch with you regularly to give you advice, should you need it. If things go wrong, I’ll get you out of there. You’re not going to end up stuck in a prison camp again this time. I swear.”

“Do I really have a choice?” Zak Klax knew to ask, still appearing disgusted by the request.

“I _really_ don’t want to go back on my promise, if you were to go back on yours,” was all that Guk said, implying that the answer to that was no.

Zak Klax folded his arms in his lap – the only part of his legs that he still had left, and his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Just let me rest up for a few more hours, and you can brief me on all the details when I wake back up. Go ahead and prepare whatever I’m going to need for the mission,” he muttered half-heartedly.

There wasn’t much sense in arguing, he figured, so he just accepted that this was how things were going to be. Guk, on the other hand, was incredibly pleased.

Just like old times…


	4. Chapter 4

Taking a deep breath, Zak Klax slid his red goggles down over his eyes, then bent over to make sure his new mechanical prosthetic legs were firmly attached. He exhaled slowly and climbed inside of one of the Massive’s escape pods. 

He really hoped that he properly disabled the pod’s release alarm, so that none of the crew on the command deck would be notified when it was ejected. 

It was shocking what could go unnoticed within the Irken Armada’s fleet. One would imagine that the security would be air-tight, but it was laxer than expected. 

It must have been a mix between the utter audacity of Irken-kind and the fact that many were too afraid to challenge the Armada. Most would see the fleet coming and start fleeing in a hurry. It was a bad move, since it only drew more attention, and often resulted in the poor souls being blasted into oblivion.

The plan was to send Zak Klax’s escape pod to Earth’s coordinates in a one-way trip and pray that an initially slow-moving pod would be easily mistaken as an inconspicuous asteroid floating aimlessly through space. 

Honestly? Zak Klax couldn’t believe he survived half of the insane ideas that Guk put him through, but it always panned out in the past.

He glanced down once more at the shiny metal limbs that did their best to mimic the appearance of real Vortian legs.

Well… Usually at a cost, but Guk’s ideas just about always succeeded, and never got either of them outright killed, at least. Even if they probably should have been by now.

“You ready?” Guk asked, standing by next to the pod release controls.

Zak Klax strapped himself into one of the chairs inside the pod, feeling like he was about to go on a theme park coaster ride. He kept himself from lingering on the thought for too long, as it immediately brought back memories of the time Guk took him to some Irken-controlled planet dedicated entirely to such a thing. 

In hindsight, it was kind of like a date, he supposed. That just made him want to remember it even less, although it was a happy memory.

With one final tug to the straps securing the harness keeping him in place, Zak Klax gave a nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose. If one of the ships sees me, and shoots my pod into smithereens, tell my brother I love him very much.”

Guk grinned, and already began typing in the coordinates. “He knows.”

Soon, the pod door slid shut, and through the little window, Zak Klax could see Guk giving him an Irken salute in farewell. The Vortian bashfully waved goodbye while the locks surrounding the pod began to release. Now, the engineer was drifting through space in a pod packed with supplies and much of the basic equipment of an invader. 

He was pretty sure that there was even a SIR unit somewhere among all of the things Guk lent him, but it hadn’t been activated yet. Probably a smart idea, since Zak Klax would first have to look at its software, and what kind of processes it would run in the background. Just to be on the safe side.

It was nerve-wracking to watch out the window as the pod’s collision avoidance systems gently steered itself through the fleet. If he weren’t so afraid for his life, though, he’d call the sights beautiful. There were ships of varying models and sizes, and when he remembered that most, if not all of them, were primarily of Vortian make, it made him feel crestfallen.

His people had a great affinity for creation for the sake of creating, and it was sad to see it all turned towards unending warfare. The depressing thought crossed his mind that maybe in a cruel way, the Vortians deserved their current fate for allying with the Irkens. Their works brought so much suffering to the galaxy, and perhaps in a way even started all this mass-conquest on a level that the Irkens would have otherwise never achieved.

The Vortians didn’t intend for it to be like this, of course. Though they were a highly intelligent species, they were considered to be a little naive. Not many other planets wanted much to do with them in the past, because their eccentricities were a little off-putting to lots of other cultures. When the Irkens came along, they thought they had finally found a species with which they could be close friends. 

After all, the Irkens were also thought of as oddballs, and often misunderstood. It seemed natural that fate would bring the two peoples together, but the Vortians never could have imagined how it all would have played out.

Zak Klax wondered if it was stupid of him to still want to be friends with an Irken. He remembered when there was once a time when it was quite common. In fact, he even remembered two of his former co-workers being an Irken/Vortian couple. He wondered if they were still out there somewhere, and if they were still together.

The Vortian gasped and shook momentarily when static crackled from the speaker in the communicator he wore on his wrist.

“ _Hey, can you hear me?_ ”

Zak Klax held his wrist close to his mouth, and pressed down on one button on its side. “Yeah, I can hear you, Guk. I think I’m in the clear.”

“ _Good, good. I think I kept most of the ships distracted for you. After I launched your pod, I broadcasted a little speech to all of the Armada._ ”

Zak Klax wished he could have heard whatever it was. He had to admit that he was a little curious. “Oh? What kind of speech?”

“ _I basically went on a ramble about how their service and loyalty to the Empire is appreciated. Yadda yadda… That kind of thing. Hah…_ ”

“Do you do that often?” It was weird for Zak Klax to realize he was pretty out of the loop when it came to what Guk actually did these days now. At the very least, he always knew the Irken to be extremely busy, but now he had to wonder if Guk even had time for sleep or personal time anymore.

“ _Sometimes. When I think to do it. It probably sounds stupid, but I think they appreciate hearing every now and then that what they do matters._ ”

A smile tugged at the corner of the Vortian’s dull gray lips. “That doesn’t really sound like the Guk I know,” he said half-jokingly.

“ _Hey… I do care about some things._ ”

“Like what?”

“ _I dunno… Lots of things._ ”

“Lots of things?”

“… _Okay, a few things._ ”

“I was expecting you to name a few.”

At first, it seemed that the communicator must have stopped working, but eventually there was a response.

“ _Look, I’ve gotta get back to the Tallest, before they get bored and start asking questions about where I’m at._ ”

Zak Klax chuckled. “Alright, fair enough.”

“ _Alright, talk to ya late-_ ”

“Hey, Guk? Just one more thing.”

“ _Yeah?_ ”

“I… I hope that you’re happy. Now that you’ve got everything you wanted, and all…”

It was clear that Zak Klax sounded sincere when he said that, and yet this time, no reply ever came. The silence he was left with brought him back to what he was thinking about earlier. Was he stupid to still want to be friends with an Irken?

\---

Zak Klax wasn’t even aware of the fact that he’d finally arrived at his destination, until a sudden impact jostled him awake in a panic. Really, he was just relieved that this neck hadn’t snapped, nor did anything fall out of the overhead storage compartments.

It was hard to say how long the trip had taken. He insisted to Guk that he really didn’t want to know, after it was explained to him that “it would take a little while”. In “Guk-speak”, as he dubbed it, a little sometimes meant a whole lot depending on the context. 

For all he knew, that translated to years. It certainly felt like years. 

But then again, it easily could have been just a few days. It didn’t matter all that much. What was more important was that he was finally free. Mostly.

Lard Nar was, too, he hoped. Wherever he was now…

Zak Klax groggily unfastened the harness and got up. He nearly stumbled over but managed to catch himself on a handrail. Space flight had left him unbalanced, and he knew that it would probably be some time before he fully adjusted to using his new legs.

He opened up one of the overhead compartments and took out a bulky case. Evidently, it was an older model of the Irken disguise generators. It only then occurred to him that maybe some of these tools Guk had let him borrow were from Guk’s own days as an invader. If that was the case, then they must be very outdated.

Upon closer inspection, he saw some etchings and travel stickers on one side of the case. Several of the stickers were from planets he didn’t recognize, and the etchings looked to be carved by two distinct hands. Zak Klax’s grasp on the Irken language wasn’t perfect, but thankfully it was nothing complex.

_CONGRATZ ON GRADUATING FROM THE ACADEMY! WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YA! OKAY, MAYBE I COULD HAVE… >8P - Big Red_

_\OoO/ WOO~! WE DID IT!!! - Purp_

It was kind of endearing to imagine Guk’s younger years, even though it probably entailed him doing a lot of horrible things that Zak Klax no doubt would take issue with. Still, it was cute to think about.

Flipping open the latches with his thumbs, the old case creaked open to reveal a small screen that basically read in Irken: “CONNECT COMPATIBLE DEVICE”. He removed a short cable from his pocket and tethered the communicator on his wrist to the case’s built-in computer. The message changed to: “COMPATIBLE DEVICE DETECTED. SCANNING FOR NEARBY INTELLIGENT LIFEFORMS…”

He huffed as he waited for the old machine to finish, wishing he had the parts to update the thing. It was getting stuffy in the escape pod, and he really wanted to hurry up and leave it behind as soon as he could.

“LOADING GENERATED DISGUISE PRESETS…”

“Ugh,” Zak Klax grumbled, watching the selection thumbnails pop in one at a time. Guk really must have not touched this thing in ages. Was it always this slow, or was it just horribly neglected?

A large chunk of the presets didn’t even load in, instead receiving broken thumbnail images that Zak Klax couldn’t even select from when he touched them. That left him with few choices, and very little idea of what this race listed as “HUMAN” generally looked like. Judging from the options he could see, they weren’t a very pretty species, but he did see one preset that wasn’t so bad. It even kind of looked like him just a tiny bit.

The disguise had pale, almost gray skin, pinkish irises, and short, curly mousy hair. He wondered if this kind of “human” must be subterranean like the Vortian species, given their muted natural colors. At any rate, he felt the appearance suited him fine, so he chose it.

A signal was sent to the device on his wrist, and after a while, his real appearance was enveloped by the human disguise. It would have been nice to have a mirror to see it better with, but the best he could do was to look down at what parts of himself he could see. From what he could tell, it was decent enough and seemed stable.

As his first act of business while in his new disguise, he unlocked the escape pod’s door to have a peek outside and get an idea of where he was at. A forest, it looked like. An antlered creature that was in the middle of eating grass craned its head upwards and stared at him curiously.

“U-Uh… Hello?” Zak Klax uttered experimentally, hoping that the spoken language translator built into his communicator was working. This thing didn’t look like a human, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t potentially be another sentient species native to the planet.

The creature regarded him for a moment and made an odd grunting noise while scratching at the ground with one hoof nervously. When he took a step forward with the intent of approaching it, the creature was startled, and sprinted off gracefully deeper into the woods.

Zak Klax exhaled in relief. “Okay, good. Probably just an animal, then.”

He went back inside the pod to gather a few things before he started exploring. According to Guk, he was supposed to have landed somewhere relatively close to the laboratory of interest. Though he probably should rest up and get his bearings first, he thought that scouting the surrounding territory would give him some peace of mind about where he figured he’d be staying for a while. 

He’d probably have to live out of the escape pod until he secured better lodgings, if any were to be found. He was reminded that Guk mentioned that the planet wasn’t a particularly advanced one. They hadn’t even made first contact with another planet’s species in an official capacity yet. It kind of blew his mind to even try and imagine that. Vortians managed that early on into their civilization, and it hardly was one of their greatest technological accomplishments.

It was hard not to stop and admire the sights. Earth was a lot different than Vort in many ways. At least, this part of the planet was. Much of Vort’s natural geography on the surface of the planet had been taken over by industrialization by the time of his birth, but some parts remained. Earth was a lot lusher, for one. Plant life was a little sparser on Vort’s surface, while most of it thrived inside of its natural and Vortian-made caves and tunnels.

Wild animals were apparently much more plentiful on the surface of Earth, which was another thing he wasn’t used to seeing. It made sense, though. There was seemingly plenty of food to sustain them. 

On modern Vort, the resource-scarce surface made it nearly impossible for wildlife to survive, unless someone was giving them food. It was a rare oddity to see a creature that had somehow managed to stray so far from the underground tunnels that it originated from. 

Most wildlife could only be found in the deepest, least-ventured areas underneath Vort’s crust, and they weren’t nearly as seemingly friendly as Earth’s creatures came across, at least from this experience that he was having as he trekked through the woods. A lot of Vort’s creatures were dangerous, and often times aggressive. 

It was hardly any wonder why even the meek Vortians had to evolve into pack hunters themselves, just for the species to make it on such a harsh planet. Granted, records indicated that Vortians weren’t so meek back then, before their rapidly increasing intelligence lead to the development of complex tools.

So far, he’d have to say that his favorite alien animal from this planet had to be the little rodent things with the puffy tails that nibbled on what he presumed were large seeds, since they were picking them from tree branches. They had funny teeth that were oddly cute. Alas, he’d have to postpone his animal-watching until another time.

Finally, he found an exit from the forest, and came across a park of some kind. Probably human-made, since the structures didn’t appear to be natural formations. There were more animals roaming about, but these ones were supervised by humans.

Zak Klax changed his mind on what his most favorite animal was. The hairy barking things that came in a variety of shapes and sizes were even better than the tree rodent things. They even smiled! He wasn’t sure, though, why many of them were lead around on tethers. Were they being kept subjugated by the humans against their will? But they seemed so happy, and so did the humans…

He was afraid to go up to any one of the humans and ask any of the host of questions that ran through his mind, so he just shoved his hands into his coat pockets and walked through the park with his head down to appear less noticeable. 

Few people paid him much mind, though he did get the occasional quizzical look. He was starting to notice that he wasn’t seeing many humans around that resembled his disguise. Maybe he picked an unusual appearance. Oops.

It took him by surprise when a young human female ran up to him. At first, he didn’t see her coming, and they nearly bumped into one another.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Zak Klax apologized quickly, taking a few steps back with his hands held up defensively. He wobbled on his prosthetic legs but managed to keep upright on them.

“N-No, it’s my fault,” said the woman with a slight laugh. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but I thought you could use my umbrella,” she explained, offering some sort of device to him with a polka dot pattern on it.

He blinked at her in puzzlement underneath his red-tinted goggles, though he accepted the item and immediately started looking it over. It looked like a shield on a stick made from flimsy materials.

Seeing his confusion, the woman chuckled again. “Ah, well, it’s just that it’s really bright out today, and you look like someone who could easily get burned. I hope I haven’t offended you, or anything.”

Oh. It was for blocking sunlight. That made sense. Now that he understood what it was for, he held it over his head, which seemed to please the human.

“Thanks,” he replied with a satisfied nod. “Yeah, I’m not really a fan of the sun.”

“My name’s Melody. What’s yours?” she asked, taking him off guard once again.

He gulped, having not had the chance to research what were common given names on Earth. It hadn’t really crossed his mind that he should probably go by an alias while he was here. Should he just give his real name, and see how she reacted?

“Zak Klax,” he answered, awaiting her reply.

She knitted her blond eyebrows together thoughtfully. “Zack Klaus? Are you German? I noticed you had a bit of an accent, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Apparently, she’d misheard the name he’d given her, probably because it was so abnormal as far as Earthling naming conventions went. However, he’d commit the name she’d spoken to memory, and start using it from now on.

“Uh, well, I’m not from around here,” he said vaguely, not knowing what a ‘germ-man’ was. “I actually moved here just today, in fact.”

“Oh! Well, I hope you like it here! I’ve been living here all my life. It’s not the most exciting place in the world, but it’s where all of my family lives, so…” She shook her head, finding herself going off on a bit of a tangent. “Anyway, I’m guessing you must have moved here to work at Membrane Labs, right?”

Was she some kind of super spy? That _would_ be Zak Klax’s luck – the first human he meets turning out to be an espionage agent.

“H-How did you know?” he stammered, wide-eyed.

“It’s the only place to work in town that’s worth moving here for. A lot of people from outside of the country come just to work there.” She gestured to his outfit. “Plus, you’re dressed like a scientist.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” He felt like an idiot, but at least his fears were eased. Maybe he’d make a passable invader yet. “By the way, do you know where I can find it? Membrane Labs? I’m a little lost.”

Melody burst into a fit of giggles. “I thought you looked lost, since you’ve been walking all around the dog park without a dog!”

Was that the name of the hairy barking creatures?

“Here, I’ll write down some directions for you.” She fumbled with the bag she carried on a strap hung over one shoulder, pulling out parchment to make notes on and a writing tool. 

He would have rather had her just give him the coordinates, so that he could just enter them into the navigational system in his goggles. However, he once again reminded himself that their technology was probably not so advanced, and that he might cause alarm with such a request. 

As he watched her write directions down in her odd foreign language, it dawned on him that he’d probably need to finally get around to finishing the coding for his written-word translator that was also installed in the goggles he wore. It wasn’t ideal compared to just learning the language naturally, but it would have to do until he had the time to do so.

“By the way, this might sound like a strange request, but could you also write down the alphabet for me?” he blurted out, knowing that he’d need it for his project.

She glanced up from her notes, giving him a strange look. “Weird, but okay.” 

Shrugging, she went back to what she was doing, and made sure to include his request at the bottom of the paper. When she was finished, she tore off the piece of paper, and handed it to him with a smile.

“There you go! Oh, and you can keep the umbrella, by the way. I have another in my car, and probably two or three more somewhere at the house, I’m sure.”

He ignored reading the directions for now, and instead skimmed over the alphabet. It came as a relief that it only consisted of twenty-six characters and didn’t look all that complicated. This language would hopefully be a good one to test out the software with, once he had it up and running. 

He’d have to see if he could find some archive somewhere in town where he could get more references for this language, since the alphabet alone wouldn’t be enough to get started.

“I really appreciate your help, Melody,” Zak Klax said after stuffing the note into one of his coat pockets. “You’ve been very kind. I hope I see you around again sometime.”

The compliment certainly made her day. “Same! Where do you live around here, anyway?”

Zak Klax struggled to think of how he should respond. He decided to just point towards the woods he came out of. Apparently, it wasn’t the worst answer, since although she laughed, she came to some understanding.

“An outdoorsman, huh? I’m not going to lie; I wouldn’t have guessed that would be your thing. I guess it’s true what they say about judging books by their covers.”

Even Zak Klax found the notion ironic. Outside really _wasn’t_ his thing at all, yet here he was. For better or for worse, his homebody lifestyle got a lot more charmed ever since he met Guk all those years ago. Perhaps if he gave it a chance, he might _like_ being outdoors. 

Okay, probably not, but he didn’t have much choice for the time being.

“You’re a funny guy, Zack. I’ll see you around!” Melody waved goodbye to him, then skipped back to the bench she was sitting on earlier. She untied her tiny little dog’s leash from the tree next to it, and the small creature leaped into its owner’s lap to lick at her face happily.

Witnessing the moment made him wish he had one of those animals as a pet. He’d have to at least consider it, though he wasn’t sure how that would play out in the long-term. After all, he had no intentions of staying on Earth, as charming of a place as it was thus far.

“Bye, Melody!” he called out with a wave of his own. 

Gripping his umbrella tightly, he left the dog park to explore the area further. If he were lucky, he might find another helpful human that could assist him with the note with directions on it. 

After that pleasant first encounter, he was suddenly a lot less scared of these humans.


	5. Chapter 5

While most workplaces on Earth had their human resources department handle all the faculty hiring, Membrane Labs did things a little differently. The man behind the corporation himself did all the hiring personally. 

Even the janitorial staff was vetted through him. It wasn’t particularly efficient, but Professor Membrane insisted upon doing things this way. Not only was it a matter of not just wanting anyone who could fog up a mirror to work at his company, but also it was a lot more personal.

He didn’t want his laboratory to be “just another all-consuming, soulless mega corporation”. The Professor wasn’t in the field of science for the money. It was about making the world a better place. He didn’t make the company motto: “Who wants a better everything?” for nothing! Among that list of “better everything”, he included the workplace itself. 

Deep down, everyone wanted the convenience of a mega corporation, but with the personalized feeling of a “Mom and Pop” operation. Most CEOs would call that an impossible combination, but Professor Membrane was all about overcoming the impossible.

One morning, when he was sorting through files containing printed-out applications and resumes, he found one that caught his eye. Unlike the other applications, which consisted of the application form, a simple one sheet resume, and occasionally a brief cover letter, this file was the size of a user manual for an industrial machine.

He’d gotten a few like this before, but most of them pretty much amounted to subtle fan letters when he flipped through them. They made it hard to tell if the applicant was being sincere about wanting to work alongside a hero of theirs, or if they were just trying really hard to butter him up in hopes of getting their foot in the door. The only thing he liked butter on was his toast.

To his surprise, though, the long application didn’t even make any mention to his work. In fact, it didn’t sound like the applicant was familiar at all with Membrane Labs, despite it being a globally renowned company. It was really just a lengthy detailing of qualifications, and why the applicant figured they would make a good fit for the open engineering position in the robotics department.

As he picked up the phone beside his desk, Professor Membrane desperately hoped that he wasn’t walking straight into an elaborate set-up for a prank phone call. He just found himself extremely skeptical that he never heard of someone with this many qualifications named “Zack Klaus” before now. Not to mention that the surname stood out to him as concerning. It was a known fact that he had a vendetta with Santa Claus, so the application came across as potentially being a case of very subtle trolling. Plus, he was fairly certain that he was calling up a payphone number.

The phone was answered after the first ring. It made him wonder how long the applicant was standing beside this one payphone, since the application was submitted a few days ago. He couldn’t always find the time to look through the new submissions right away.

“Is this Membrane Labs?” a nervous voice asked on the other end of the line.

The Professor held the phone to his head with his shoulder, in order to free up his hands so that he could start making notations on the file he had flipped open. “Yes, this is Professor Membrane. Is this Zack Klaus?”

“It is! Are you calling about my application?” Though Zack was trying his hardest to sound calm, his anxiety was plain as day even over the phone. It was nothing unusual. A lot of people felt a great sense of pressure when they’d finally heard back about their applications.

“I am! I have to say, I’m very impressed already. Your list of achievements is well above average.”

Zack went a little quiet at this initially. “Really? I thought my resume was pretty standard at best back – er… where I’m from.”

The Professor took it as a joke and laughed. “That reminds me – I notice that you didn’t list a real home address on your application. Just ‘123 Generic Street’, to continue on to the next step in the application process…”

“I, uh, don’t have a permanent residence yet. I just moved here, and I’m kind of living out of a suitcase right now. That won’t be a problem, will it?”

Professor Membrane blinked behind his light blue goggles, but he shrugged his suspicion off and made a note about it in the file. “That’s fine. Quite a few of our new hires live out of hotels for the first few months. Usually they wait until _after_ they’re hired to move all the way out here, though! I like your determination, Mr. Klaus!”

“Haha… Yeah, I guess I just got a little ahead of myself!”

“If you’re not particularly busy today, would you mind stopping by for an in-person interview? I’ll be in my office for the next few hours sorting out paperwork,” the Professor offered.

“Yeah, of course! I’ll start heading that way right now!”

“Fantastic! I’ll let security know to expect yo-”

Suddenly, the Professor could hear the low tone of a disconnected call. He set his phone back in its cradle, and buzzed security with a press of the intercom button on his desk. “If a Zack Klaus shows up, send him up to my office. And please, nobody electrocute him with a taser if he comes running up to the front door. I get the feeling he’s running here.”

The Professor let go of the button, sighing as he ran one hand through his black scythe-shaped hair. Science was a lot easier and less stressful than the hiring process.

-

Professor Membrane nearly had a heart attack when not long after the phone call, his office door was flung open, and the first thing he was greeted with was an albino man with one side of his face being heavily bruised.

“Gah!” the Professor exclaimed, jolting up from his desk in a natural reaction of fight or flight. “Z-Zack Klaus, I presume? Are you… are you alright? Your face is-”

The odd man stood at the doorway with his hands placed on his hips, and a bent retracted umbrella tucked under one arm. “I fell, but I’m okay!” At least this time, the bruising was his own fault.

“I… I see…” Professor Membrane coughed into his fist and motioned to the chair in front of his desk while he sat back down himself. “Please, have a seat. Close the door behind you, if you wouldn’t mind.”

With a nod, Zack Klaus shut the door, and sat down in the chair with an eager smile spread across his face and his damaged umbrella laid in his lap. It took a moment for the Professor to take him all in and calm down from his near heart-failure.

For the next thirty minutes or so, they discussed Zack’s background in working with machines, and then the Professor proceeded to explain a few of the current projects Membrane Labs had been working on, which then lead into a bit of a ramble about the company’s history. Even though the interview accidentally became more of a long-winded casual discussion about their passions, it was going well. Until the Professor had to bring up one embarrassing subject.

“Zack, I have to admit – you sound like you know your stuff, and I’d be thrilled to have you on my team… However, there is one issue. I attempted to reach out to the prior places of work you have listed on your resume, but I couldn’t even find any record of them, much less a phone number or an email.” The Professor clasped his hands together on top of his desk, twiddling his gloved thumbs. He hated to bring this up, but understandably the lack of verifiable references made him nervous.

Zack froze up, squeezing onto his broken umbrella tightly in an effort to remain calm. He completely forgot about that. Maybe he should have just listed himself as self-employed? 

It was so easy for him to forget that all of his reputation was limited to one planet, since it’s not like the human had a means of calling up one of Vort’s prisons to ask one of his old bosses about his work ethic.

“Typically, we need at least three reachable references to hire here, but if I could speak to at least _one_ , I’ll hire you,” the Professor relented, trying to be reasonable.

“Just one?” Zack repeated, to which the Professor nodded.

The disguised Vortian eyed the communicator on his wrist, considering something that he felt he’d probably regret later. He really didn’t want to call for Guk’s help.

Zack made an uncomfortable face, feeling disappointed in himself for what he was about to do. “Uhhh… Okay, then. Would you mind if I stepped into the hallway for a minute?”

“Sure…?” The Professor had to admit that, if nothing else, this was one of the most interesting interviews he’d had in a while.

Standing up, Zack hooked his umbrella on the back of the chair he was sitting in and hurried out the door. He inputted something into his communicator, then held it close to his mouth to keep the conversation private.

“Guk, are you there?”

“ _Yeah. I’m kind of busy. What is i- Guys, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to play Musical Service Drones another time.”_

The faint sound of two voices disappointedly going “Awww…” in unison picked up over Guk’s end of the transmission.

Zack was annoyed by just the title of such a game. “Do I even want to know what that entails?”

“ _Probably not, but don’t judge me until you’ve actually played it. It’s pretty fun. Unless you’re a service drone, I guess._ ”

The disguised Vortian reminded himself that time was of the essence right now and tried to get the conversation back on track. “Listen, Guk, I need your help with something.”

“ _You know, I’ve been dying to hear you say that again. I knew it was only a matter of time._ ”

Zack shuddered in disgust, as he could practically hear the smug grin on the Irken’s face just from his voice alone. “I’m being serious, Guk. This is important if you actually want me to go through with your stupid mission.”

Guk cackled and replied, “ _Alright, alright. Shoot._ ”

“I’m gonna need you to pretend to be a former employer of mine. Go by the name. Erm… What’s a human-sounding name? Hmh… Greg. Greg, uh… Jones. Yeah, that sounds good. Can you do that?”

“ _Greg Jones, huh? Earthlings have funny names. What did you say you were going by these days again? Zack Klaus? Heh. Yeah, I can do that. In a way, I kind of am your current employer, anyway. Go ahead and transfer me._ ”

Right. Transfer the call. Hopefully, this would work.

Zack calmly stepped back into the Professor’s office and returned to his seat. He glanced around the room, looking for a distraction. That was when he noticed a framed photo of two small humans – children probably, hanging up on the wall.

“Are those your kids?” he asked, pointing at the photo.

The moment the Professor turned his head, Zack pulled the cord out of his pocket to connect his communicator to the phone on Professor Membrane’s desk.

“Why yes! That’s my daughter Gazlene and my son Dib. That picture’s at least a couple years old now, though-”

He looked at his phone when it started ringing and reached over to pick up the handset. “Professor Membrane speaking.”

“ _Hey, this is Greg Jones – one of Zack’s former employers. How’s it going, Professor?_ ”

The Professor appeared elated, giving Zack a thumbs up as he replied, “Oh, I’m doing great! Your timing couldn’t be better! I actually have Zack here with me in my office as we speak!” He paused when he realized something. “Actually, how did you know to call me?”

He was quite sure that Zack didn’t own a mobile phone, given that he contacted him on a payphone earlier, and Zack surely wasn’t gone from the office long enough to borrow the phone at the front desk.

“ _Intuition, I guess. Honestly, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for a while now. You see, I know poor Zack’s been trying to find a new job for some time, and he’s just such a swell guy. Hard worker, too. Best employee I’ve ever had, in fact. Of course, I’d gladly take him back if I could, but my business went bankrupt a few years back. He had nothing to do with that, obviously. It’s just that, well, you know. The economy._ ”

Professor Membrane nodded at the explanation, too engrossed in listening to ‘Greg’ speak to notice Zack’s nervous fidgeting. “Ah, yes. It’s quite the cruel mistress, that economy.”

“ _Yep. I should’ve sold my stonks when I had the chance._ ”

“You mean stocks?”

“ _Err yeah, that’s what I said._ ”

“Right. Hm… I suppose that _would_ explain why I couldn’t find any record of your company – the bankruptcy. Which one did you say you ran?”

“ _It’s a private business._ ”

“And it was called…?”

“ _That’s what I mean, Professor. It was so private that I can’t even say!_ ”

The Professor stroked his chin through the cloth of his tall lab coat collar. It must have something to do with the government in whichever country Zack hailed from, so it was probably best not to press the matter any further.

“This all sounds legitimate to me!” Professor Membrane decided. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Jones. That’s all I really needed to hear. I just needed to make sure I wasn’t hiring some random lunatic off the streets!”

He covered the phone’s receiver with a hand, and murmured to his job candidate, “No offense, Zack.”

Taking his hand off the phone’s receiver, he added, “Have yourself a good afternoon, Greg!”

“ _Heh. Yeah, you too, buddy._ ”

Zack pulled back on the cord connected to the back of the phone’s cradle when the Professor placed the handset down, disconnecting the call. He sunk into his chair a little, feeling glad that it was over with. Hopefully, that would be the last time he’d ever need Guk to do something like that for him again, because the anticipation left his nerves shot.

Professor Membrane reached a gloved hand across his desk, expecting a handshake. Zack stretched his hand out, too, though waited for the man to make the first move, since he wasn’t sure how this was going to go. He relaxed when the Professor clasped his hand in his own and shook it, though Zack was somewhat alarmed upon noticing how firm the handshake was. Was human flesh a lot harder than it appeared?

“Welcome aboard, Zack! I-,” The Professor stopped, and let go of Zack’s hand when he noticed discomfort. “I’m sorry. The sensors in my hands probably need re-calibrating. I didn’t realize I was squeezing so hard.” He chuckled nervously, then slipped off one of the long rubber gloves to reveal a mechanical appendage, flexing the fingers. 

Zack mimicked the tone of his laugh, leaned back in his chair, and propped his prosthetic legs on the surface of the desk in front of him. “It’s alright. I’m still getting used to my new legs.” He then gestured at the bruising on his face, signaling that it was related to the fall he’d taken earlier.

“This is going to sound absent-minded of me, but I didn’t even notice those when you came in,” the Professor admitted. “Did you make those yourself?”

“No, they were a…gift, but I’ve been making some adjustments of my own to make them better. The gyroscopes in them are a little iffy, but it’s nothing I can’t fix.” Zack took his legs off the desk and sat up straight again. “Maybe sometime, if you’d like, I could help you with those re-calibrations?”

Zack couldn’t see Professor Membrane’s smile, but it was there. “That’s very kind of you to offer.” He slipped his glove back on and rested his arms on his desk. “But, where were we? Oh! Your start date. Are you doing anything tomorrow morning around eleven-ish?”

“Not really,” Zack answered.

“I was going to give some of the new interns a tour of the facility, anyway, so I thought that might also be a good opportunity to show you around. After the tour, we could get lunch, and we could discuss your training.” The Professor shrugged his shoulders, then continued, “I don’t believe you’ll need much training, but this will be more along the lines of getting you adjusted to what an average day at Membrane Labs will be like. How does that sound?”

The engineer gave him a thumbs up, recalling the Professor using the gesture earlier when he was particularly happy. It was always amusing to see that some things were universal. “Sounds perfect!”

As Zack collected his umbrella off the back of the chair and was getting ready to leave, Professor Membrane brought up one last thing he wanted to mention. “Also, I’m not sure what hotel you’ve been staying at, but we do have a couple company suites reserved at the place across the road. They’re usually saved for when we get the occasional important visitor. You know, a fellow scientist from another corporation, a special guest for our television show, that sort of thing.”

The Professor trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as he considered how to place the offer, without making it come across as weird. “We haven’t really used them much lately. It’s been an unusually slow year so far. What I’m saying is, you’re more than welcome to stay in one of the suites, until you find a real place to stay here. The company will cover the costs, of course.”

Zack’s jaw hung open. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? It might be a while before I actually find a home, you know…”

Professor Membrane nodded insistently. “Just don’t go crazy with making room service calls or placing pay-per-view orders. And whatever you do, don’t touch the mini bar. You’d be surprised how much they charge for those tiny little bottles! Ah, but other than that, you can stay for the whole rest of the year, for all I care.”

“I-I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you!” By this point, Zack had forgotten the entire reason he was even there in the first place. He came there to get a job with ill intent, but he hadn’t expected his new employer to be so generous. Or nice. None of his bosses were ever nice.

“We always try to assist our employees here as best as we can. Even the new hires.” The Professor opened one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out an electronic key card to give over to Zack. “The room number is on the card. Just show it to the receptionist at the front desk, tell them to call me since you don’t have your employee badge yet to prove your association with the company, and they’ll have it reactivated for you.”

Zack held the card close to his chest, afraid of losing it if he stuck it in one of his pockets. “Thank you so much, Professor. I’m really looking forward to working with you.”

“I’m looking forward to working with you, too, Zack!” After blurting that out, the Professor blushed, and made a somewhat embarrassed sound. It puzzled Zack to see the sudden shift in his mood. Was something taboo about their exchange? The nuance of human communication could be mysterious. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“At eleven-ish,” Zack agreed. Whatever time that meant. He’d show up one minute after eleven, just to be safe.

With the interview concluded, Zack went across the road to check out his new suite. The only thing he dreaded about it was having to drag all his equipment and supplies from the escape pod over to his new base of operations. At least he’d finally have a real bed again. It’d be interesting to see what a human’s idea of a suite was.

He regretted letting his mind wander to his own recollections of hotel suites on other planets, because it made him think of all the places that he stayed with Guk in.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun had set by the time Zack finished hauling everything to his hotel suite, but at least the chore was over with. He didn’t bother unpacking anything. It wasn’t just because he was tired, but rather he always had a habit of keeping his belongings packed up while traveling in the event of an emergency. Plus, he was always paranoid that he’d accidentally leave something behind. The last thing he wanted to do was misplace any of the advanced alien equipment Guk had lent him.

After taking some time to catch his breath while sitting atop one of the luggage cases, he got up to look around the room. Aside from being low-tech, the layout wasn’t as bizarre as he had expected. A large bed, a spacious bathroom, a balcony, a kitchenette, and a little living area/office all crammed as closely together as possible. All pretty standard for what he would consider a fancy suite, and more than adequate of a home for him. 

Zack was the kind of person who could easily live in a box for his entire life, and not particularly notice since his world didn’t usually reach much further than his desk. A lot of Vortians were like that, really, but Guk always insisted to him that it was “sad” and “suffocating”. Zack didn’t mind.

The one thing that did make him a little bit sad, though, was being totally alone here on this planet. Sure, he often kept to himself, but he liked knowing that somebody he cared about was nearby, whether they be in the same room or just down the hall. He couldn’t recall a time he was ever completely on his own. When he was a child, he had his parents. Later, he had his younger brother Lard Nar. Then he met Guk, and they spent a lot of time together. Now it was just him, and while he could handle it at first, it was starting to become depressing.

He laid down on the bed, and attempted to call Guk on his communicator, regretting the fact that he was that desperate for some semblance of company. No answer. He allowed a few minutes to pass and tried again, but still the same result. He was probably busy, or maybe asleep by now.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, telling himself that he was just going to rest them for a little while, and hope that Guk would try to call him back at some point tonight. Instead, he ended up passing out on top of the bed covers while still fully clothed and began to dream about the past. It was a long day, after all.

* * *

Zak Klax gave Guk a slight glare when the Irken sat down beside him on the bed and closed the lid of his computer. “I’m working,” he grumbled.

“You can work later,” Guk insisted, uncorking a bottle, and filling a couple of fancy-looking glasses with its bubbly contents. “Don’t you ever like to have fun for a change?”

“Working is fun for me… It stimulates my mind,” the Vortian tried to explain, though he could tell from the disappointed expression on Guk’s face that the Irken just wouldn’t understand where he was coming from.

“Yeah, well, you can stimulate yourself later, Zak. Here. Drink. Be merry. Or at least _try_ to. I rented out a luxury suite for us just so we could have a bit of _fun_. You do know what _fun_ is, right?” Guk handed over one of the filled glasses and held his own glass up in a toasting motion. “It’s not every day you manage to siphon three hundred grand in monies from one of the intergalactic banks and get away with it.”

“ _So far_ ,” Zak Klax pointed out, staring down into his drink as he swirled the liquid around while he mused on that day’s events. All he ever wanted to do in life was build and program gadgets and software, and he wasn’t sure how he ended up becoming involved in one Irken’s cryptic schemes as his right-hand Vortian.

Guk groaned dramatically and gulped down half of his drink in one go. “Your service to the Irken Empire has been duly noted and is greatly appreciated.”

“I get the feeling that this isn’t how the Irken Empire typically does things.” The Vortian locked eyes with the ambitious Irken, as if searching for an explanation he felt he deserved. 

He had been kept in the dark about a lot of why he was being asked to do this or that. At first, it was about helping Irk get the technological advancements they supposedly desperately needed, which Vort was cautious about giving away so freely as they were learning that their Irken allies were forcefully “improving” smaller, less advanced planets that other sentient lifeforms already lived on for generations. Now they were stealing from neutral organizations, among a host of other highly illegal things that could result in the entire galaxy turning their cannons directly on them, if they were caught.

The Irken Empire had grown very bold indeed ever since they allied with Vort, and their eagerness had especially escalated as of late. It was like they were completely unafraid at this point of any potential challengers or alliances rising up to shut their dreams of expansion down. Zak didn’t want to believe that their Irken allies had evil intent. 

He hoped that instead, they were just blinded by their ambition of becoming more secure in their place in the galaxy. That one day, they’d come to a realization when they had strayed too close to going too far, before actually getting to that point. But they already were going too far, weren’t they?

Guk refilled his glass back up to its top and took a small sip. “The Irken Empire is changing with the times,” he said with a slightly bitter tone.

“I know you just want what’s best for your species, Guk, but this all feels wrong.”

The Irken huffed at the Vortian’s opinion. “I don’t know if you noticed, Zak, but diplomacy never worked out so well for my kind throughout history. No one ever takes us seriously, or respects us, unless we get assertive. _Then_ people start listening to the “shorties”. You should know what that feels like. Vortians get the same treatment. Me and you? We’re decently tall, yeah. But the others? They aren’t so lucky. And how does the galaxy treat them? Like pushovers, until we show them who’s boss.”

“So, the answer is to become the universe’s bullies ourselves?” Zak Klax retorted in disgust. “And to just take whatever we want when we want it?”

Guk shifted his position on the edge of the bed, facing away while slouching as he continued to nip at his drink. “Maybe…”

“You can’t really mean tha-…” The Vortian engineer trailed off, concluding that Guk probably wasn’t in a rational state of mind to argue with on the subject.

Zak Klax placed his computer on the nightstand and scooted closer to Guk. “I wish I really knew what was going on in your head with all of this. I want to help you, Guk. I really do. I just don’t understand.”

“Don’t make me drink by myself, Zak,” was the unexpected reply he got. Reluctantly, the Vortian drank from his glass, and made a regretful face at the taste.

“I don’t see how you can drink this stuff. Erm… But anyway, all I’m saying is that I’d like it if you were more willing to open up to me. Would that really be so bad?” Zak Klax’s eyes were pleading, but the Irken refused to turn to even look at him. “It’s just that I consider you to be the first friend I’ve ever had, and I-…”

Guk finally glanced over his shoulder, and Zak Klax had a hard time bringing himself to say what was on his mind with his piercing teal eyes judging him like that.

“I…”

Guk nodded in understanding., and set the bottle and glass in his hands alongside the computer on the nightstand. “I know.” He then proceeded to take his companion by surprise when he curled a finger underneath his chin, tilting his head up for a kiss.

“M-Mph…” Zak Klax’s eyelids fluttered half-closed as he melted into the kiss, but he was soon left briefly disappointed and befuddled when Guk pulled away.

Guk grabbed onto his wrist and brought the glass in the engineer’s hand over to his mouth to swallow what was left in it. He grinned and shrugged, then said, “It’s not like you were going to drink it. Why let it go to waste?” Plucking the glass out of his hand, he tossed it across the room carelessly, then pinned Zak Klax to the bed by both wrists. “Now, where were we?”

* * *

Sunlight that crept in between the parted curtains hanging over the window stirred Zack from his slumber. Even with his goggles on, he still noticed how much brighter it was now at this hour. Nighttime was too brief on this planet. What time was it, anyway?

Sitting up from the bed, he looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, and gasped when he saw that it read: 11:01AM. At least he slept in his clothes, so that would save him some time getting back to the laboratory. He just hoped that Professor Membrane wouldn’t be upset. He _did_ say eleven- _ish._

Zack bolted out the door and rode the elevator to the bottom floor. Going down the stairs would have possibly been faster, but it was out of the question given the fact that he had already bruised himself up badly the day before. He was more worried about showing up with more bruises and being thought of as incompetent than the actual pain of falling again.

Two different cars from opposite sides of traffic nearly ran over him as he sprinted across the street. The drivers stomped on their brakes and hammered down on their car horns. One of them leaned out their window and started screaming that he should have been using the crosswalk “like a normal human being”.

All the running made it apparent that leaving his prosthetic legs on overnight was a bad idea, because he could feel the stubs connected to them chafe horribly from sweat coupled with friction. He’d have to remember to start letting them get some air every now and then.

He was gasping for breath when he burst through the double doors of Membrane Labs’ lobby. Whatever conversation was going on before between Professor Membrane and the gathered interns came to a halt, when everyone was distracted by his sudden entrance. For the most part, it was alarming, but at least two of the interns were pretty irritated by his unintended rudeness.

“Mr. Klaus! You’re right on time!” The Professor clapped his gloved hands together excitedly, probably grinning behind the collar that obscured much of his face. “I was just in the middle of a bit of an introduction before we began our tour. I believe we covered most of what I was going over during your interview, so you didn’t miss out on anything.”

“B-But I’m late,” Zack protested sheepishly, knowing that there was no way he got here in less than a minute.

Professor Membrane tilted his head up to double-check the digital clock hanging up in the lobby, then pointed at it. “It’s 11:00AM on the dot, and I know the clocks here are always kept accurate. They’re even synchronized all throughout the building.”

“O-Oh…” Zack hadn’t even considered the possibility that the clock in his room could be off, but now that he did, he felt silly. Even more so when the interns stared at him, presumably judging him one way or another. Some more harshly than others, going by the variety of facial expressions.

“Anyway,” the Professor began, waving his hand towards the hallway. “If you would all please follow me, we’ll get started with the tour.”

Dutifully, the interns walked behind him in a loose line, listening carefully and some of them even taking notes as the scientist rambled on more about the facility. Zack was at the back of the group, content to keep his distance from everyone else. He always felt awkward around strangers, but especially when he was in a group of strangers. Even worse, he was anxious that he’d left a poor initial impression on a lot of them. It wasn’t exactly the best way to start off his new career.

No. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t going to be a career. It was just a job. A temporary job, and that’s it. It was hard to keep that in mind, but perhaps the past few years spent imprisoned made him desperate to experience living a real independent life again. Now that he was considering it, what _was_ his life going to be like after he returned to Guk, once his debt was repaid? Would he just be free to go? Would Guk continue to provide him with work and a living? Would he and Lard Nar truly be free, or stuck serving the Irken Empire forever?

_That’s kind of a redundant question. Maybe servitude to the Irken Empire is just an inevitability that can only temporarily be delayed. In such a short amount of time, they’ve taken over more than half of the galaxy. An entirely Irken-controlled universe could one day become the new normal,_ he thought darkly to himself.

The most upsetting thing about that line of thinking for Zack was the fact that, unlike his brother, he almost felt ambivalent about the potentiality at this rate. Just accepting things as they were got him through most of the horrible circumstances that occurred throughout his life. When his mother passed away after Lard Nar was born. When his world-weary father disappeared, leaving him to take care of his younger brother by himself. When Vort was taken over by the Irkens. He just pushed his negative emotions down and focused on making the best of things instead. There was once a time when he felt stronger for toughing things out like that, but now he felt like a coward for being so passive.

One of the massive rooms that the tour group entered filled Zack with awe. There was a huge ship with a design he’d never seen before. This must have been a human’s concept of what a space-faring vehicle should look like. He wished that his younger sibling could have been here to see it. Lard Nar always had a fascination with spaceships in particular, since their estranged father was once a well-respected ship captain.

He hoped that Lard Nar was doing alright. A few days ago, Guk had played back a received transmission from Lard Nar over the communicator, but allegedly Lard Nar was currently only capable of sending out pre-recorded messages, due to his ship’s transmitter being damaged. Zack was understandably skeptical of that, but he’d have to take Guk’s word for it.

The Professor took the group across a catwalk that gave a better view of the ship and motioned towards it with a hand. “This new space shuttle is part of our most recent collaboration with NASAPlace. As you can see, it’s still in the early stages of development, but we hope to have it ready for a real test flight by next summer. Ideally, we’d like to get this craft capable of achieving the first human landing on Mars, so that we can see about constructing a research station there.”

The interns appeared impressed, and a couple even gasped excitedly. There must have been something special about this Mars planet, but Zack was too afraid to ask what, in the event that it made people even more wary about him. There were so many things he didn’t yet know about this planet and the solar system it belonged to. It worried him to think of how easy it would be for him to come across as either suspect or an idiot for the things he was ignorant about.

Before long, they were then taken to a room with what was at first assumed to be a one-way window. It was just a wall of plexiglass. One of the test subjects on the other end looked up from his game of chess with a mouse standing on its hind legs, and gave a friendly wave to the new audience before returning to making his move in his turn of the game.

Professor Membrane waved back in a familiar manner, then said to his group, “This is Charles and Algernon. They’re testing out our gluten-free version of Supertoast – the breakfast food that supercharges the mind. Temporarily, of course.”

“I don’t guess you’d give us a sample, would you?” one of the interns asked hopefully.

The Professor pondered the question seriously. “If you’d be willing to sign a waiver after the tour, I don’t see why not! Wait. You’re not trying to give yourself an unfair advantage for the pop quiz I’ll be giving at the end, are you?”

Zack was mortified. “There’s going to be a test!?” Once again, he felt eyes divert to him, and he wished he’d just kept his mouth shut.

Professor Membrane burst into laughter. “I’m only kidding! The quiz is entirely optional. It’s more of a survey, really. I always like to hear feedback on how I can do better with these orientations.”

The group let out a collective sigh of relief, except for one intern that had a competitive gleam in their eye since their arrival. Zack supposed that there always had to be at least one, though he guessed there was nothing wrong with being motivated. Sometimes he wished he were a little more ambitious.

All throughout the rest of the journey, as they were shown new sections of the facility, they were also occasionally introduced to some of the department leaders. The interns that would be working directly in those groups got a bit of briefing on what their assignments would be, and what would be expected of them. When it seemed that the tour had finally come to its conclusion, however, Zack was left wondering who he’d be directly reporting to. Maybe he’d accidentally been forgotten about, since he was really just tagging along with the interns to get a layout of the building.

“So where do I go?” he finally found the courage to ask the Professor meekly, now that the interns had dispersed to their respective areas.

“With me, of course!” the Professor replied. 

The engineer was startled. “H-Huh?”

“Hrm, I don’t believe I was entirely clear about the fact that you’d be working on my personal team for my current projects. I thought I had mentioned it in our interview.” Professor Membrane shrugged his shoulders. “My apologies. You’re not uncomfortable with that, are you, Zack?”

“N-No way! I think it’s great!” That was a lie. Guk would probably see it as a benefit, but to Zack, it was horrifying to think that the head scientist and owner of the corporation would be watching his every move. No pressure. Zack was just here to steal top secret data practically right out of the man’s pocket. 

This was not what Zack meant when he said he was looking forward to working with the Professor. He meant it more in a non-personal way. Working with him as in working with him from the other side of the building, as part of a small, barely noticed team that contributed in their own way towards the company’s end goals. Not as in: ‘Hey, buddy, can you pass me the soldering iron?’ Oh geeze…

The Professor clasped his hands together and looked at Zack expectantly. “So, are there any places locally you generally like to eat at?”

“Uh…” Zack had completely forgotten that the man had made the offer to take him out to lunch. As he had just been eating what little remained of the rations Guk sent him off with, and had no income as of yet, he didn’t have a clue about any of the eateries around town. Other than the fact that most of them smelled like they had unbelievably delicious food. “I usually don’t eat out, so I don’t really know.”

“Do you have any dietary restrictions?” Professor Membrane asked.

“Well, I only eat meat,” Zack explained reluctantly, waiting to see the man’s reaction. In his short time here, he noticed that humans were omnivores, but he hardly wanted to get himself sick just to keep up his illusion of humanity.

Just as apprehensively, the Professor replied, “Not to insult your intelligence, Zack, but I hope that’s not because of an article or two you might have read. That’s not as healthy as some may-”

“It’s an… ah… medical thing,” the disguised alien interjected before he went any further. He wished he hadn’t said anything about it, since it only sparked the Professor’s intrigue.

“Fascinating! Anemia, I presume? Or could it be that—” The Professor stopped himself from letting his sincere curiosity get the better of him, reminding himself that sometimes his scientific interest bordered on offending. Shaking his head, he said, “You don’t have to tell me. I appreciate your honesty. In fact, I believe I know just the place!”

His attention was stolen by a ringing sound that came from his earpiece. “One moment. Someone’s calling me on my emergency line,” he murmured politely, then turned his back to his new employee while he pressed a button to answer the call.

“Hello? Oh! Hi there, honey. Is something the matter?” Though Professor Membrane’s voice was low as he spoke, it was still easy for Zack to overhear the ongoing conversation. Not that he was _trying_ to listen in on purpose. “Did you try pressing Foodio’s reset button? Mmhm… And no luck? Yes, I understand. Is Dib home?”

Glancing over his shoulder, the Professor asked Zack, “I know this isn’t exactly professional to ask, but would you mind if I brought my children with us? It seems we’re having some technical difficulties with the food robot at home.”

Zack canted his head inquisitively. “Is that your significant other on the line?” The moment he uttered the question, he felt embarrassed to inquire about something so personal, but he admittedly found himself interested in what human family units were like.

“My daughter, actually. I don’t have a spouse,” the Professor divulged with a slight stammer at that last part. “It’s just my two children and myself.”

“O-Oh.” Zack wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the information. He almost wanted to give his condolences, but wasn’t sure how appropriate it would have been since he had no idea if that was a negative or a neutral thing, much less the context on whomever the other parent might have been. “Yeah, sure, I don’t see why not. Where are we going, anyway?”

“I was thinking MacMeaties. It’s not too far from here, and my home is just next door.” The Professor touched his earpiece after something was evidently said on the other end of the line. “Sweetie, we can do Bloaty’s next week. Yes, I know that we already did MacMeaties last week, but we’re going to have a guest with us. He’s a new employee of mine.” He quietly listened to his daughter’s response. “…I have no idea if he likes video games, but I’m sure you can ask him when we come over to pick you and your brother up. We’ll be there shortly! Love you!”

After disconnecting the call, Professor Membrane chuckled and shook his head. He made a gesture for Zack to start following him, and guided him out to the parking lot outside of the building. “Ah, children. Challenging to raise, but it’s an extremely fulfilling endeavor. Do you have any children of your own, Zack?”

“Sadly, no. I just have a younger brother. I’m not really sure I’d be a good father,” Zack admitted, speeding up just a little so that he could walk side-by-side with the human. It startled him when all of a sudden, he felt the Professor’s gloved hand clap him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

“I used to worry the same thing, honestly. I was entirely unprepared to raise my first born – my son Dib. I thought it wouldn’t be so complicated, but some aspects of parenthood are surprisingly overwhelming! I really started to doubt myself during the first year of being a new parent.” Zack could pretty much hear the smile in his voice. “But ultimately, becoming a father was the most rewarding decision I’d ever made. So much so, I decided to have a daughter, too!” He let out another laugh, giving Zack another pat, before finally letting go of him.

They halted in front of what looked to be a pretty fancy company car. At least, it was the most high-tech car Zack had seen so far on this planet. Professor Membrane pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, fumbling for the right button to unlock it. 

One button he pressed made a sound, and a door slid open at the building across the road. “Oops. No, that’s the garage door. Hmm…” he muttered to himself, flipping through the little remotes on his keychain.

“What about their mother?” Zack found the courage to ask, eventually.

Professor Membrane peered up from the keychain in his hands. “That’s a story for another time, I’m afraid,” he said vaguely, finally finding the right button. He opened the passenger’s side door, inviting Zack to climb inside.

The inside of the car was even nicer than the outside. It might have passed for a luxury vehicle on another, more advanced planet. At the very least, it was far more comfortable than the escape pod Zack had spent who knows how long in on the way here. He wasn’t sure he’d want to get out, in fact. The seats were memory foam underneath the synthetic leather and heated.

Once Professor Membrane had made himself comfortable in the driver’s seat of the car, he pulled out of the parking lot, and took his time with crossing the road to get to his home next door. He was apparently a much safer driver than Zack was. Zack would have admittedly just quickly cut across the road illegally and through the grass just to save time, since grass usually grows back, anyway. It was just more efficient that way.

He was excited to get the chance to meet the kids he saw in the picture in the Professor’s office. What were human youths like? Were they anything like Vortian young, or maybe Irken smeets? Did they share any similarities to any other species he was already familiar with? 

Most importantly, Zack hoped that he’d make a better impression on the children than he did with the interns. He didn’t want to disappoint his new employer, although he wasn’t positive yet if that was because he knew it would make his mission easier, or if it was because he was already genuinely growing fond of the man.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I have on my harddrive from a while ago, so I'll have to get caught up on my notes for this story again for the next upcoming chapters! I have a lot of irons in the fire because I bit off more than I can chew in terms of fanfics, but I'm going to see this one through to the end, as well as my others I have up here.
> 
> Thanks for everyone's patience and readership on this one! My writing style has changed a bit since I started this story, so hopefully the chapter quality will only improve from here on out as I continue to practice!

The kids waved to the passenger they could just barely make out through the tinted windows of their father’s car, and then got into the backseat of the vehicle. Gaz wasn’t thrilled to be sitting with her brother, but she had her Game Slave handheld gaming system with her to hopefully block out most of his annoying tendencies.

Professor Membrane peered into the backseat while motioning towards their guest seated next to him. “Kids, this is Zack Klaus. Zack, this is my daughter Gazlene and my son Dib.” Zack gave a nervous smile and a nod, waving back at them.

“Hey, Zack,” Gaz grunted, powering up her Game Slave, so that she could go ahead and resume her most recent gaming session on the device.

Dib, meanwhile, found himself staring at the man as soon as he saw what he’d looked like without the window tint obscuring his pallor. His father slowly faced forward in the driver’s seat and covered his face with the palm of his glove, muffling his deep sigh into it. Did he really expect his son to react any other way, considering his past encounters with certain employees of Membrane Labs? He hoped that his boy had matured over the past year since the last incident.

His son grabbed onto the headrest of his father’s seat, and leaned forward to the side of the headrest opposite of Zack to murmur, “Dad, are you sure we shouldn’t be driving him to a _hospital_ instead of a fast food restaurant?”

Surprised by what Dib had to say, the Professor quietly scolded back, “Son, he’s albino and possibly anemic. Don’t be so insensitive – I thought I’d taught you better.”

“I’m not trying to be insensitive! It’s just that I’ve seen what an albino person looks like, and I just don’t think he-”

“Son, genetics are an incredibly complex and diverse thing. We can continue this discussion later when it’s more appropriate.”

“But-”

Gaz lowered her game and scooted closer to her brother to pop him on the back of the head with her hand. “Put your seat belt on, Dib.” When he sat back down, rubbing his head in pain, she buckled her own seat belt in preparation for the ride to MacMeaties.

The Professor wagged a finger at the children in the rear-view mirror of the car. “Gazlene, what have I said about hitting?”

His daughter grimaced as her fingers returned to rapidly tapping away, immersing herself back into her action-packed side-scrolling game. “Sorry, Dad. Dib’s crazy mumbling was hurting my head.”

“Even so, there are better ways of settling disagreements, such as listening to the other person and talking things over!” her father countered with a small amount of firmness to his usual chipper conduct. The young girl just sighed in defeat. She didn’t argue with his logic, even though she wished he understood the depth of her plight in dealing with her brother’s antics.

Frowning, Dib buckled up for the ride as well, and at that point, the Professor finally saw fit to pull out from the driveway of their home. 

“I apologize, Zack,” the Professor murmured, hoping the children in the backseat wouldn’t hear him over the sound of the car’s engine. “My children are good kids. They just still have so much to learn.”

Zack grinned wryly. “Hey, I still kind of remember what it was like being a kid. Plus, my brother was a bit wild when he was young, too.”

Professor Membrane kept most of his focus on his driving, but he was paying attention to what Zack was saying. “Does your brother live around here? Do you live together?”

There were a lot of potential questions that Zack hadn’t quite yet come up with a consistent story for yet, and that was one of them. Not only did he not expect to be divulging many personal details during his time on the planet, since he figured he’d hardly end up communicating with anyone in a individualized capacity, but ‘spinning stories’ as his Irken partner-in-crime did always instilled a sense of guilt in him. 

Guk blurted out lies like they were nothing more than harmless tales, and sometimes it felt like his inaccurate accounts were genuine mistakes or misinterpretations. As if he lied so often and compulsively that he couldn’t be expected to distinguish fiction from reality anymore. Zack, meanwhile, knew that sometimes stretching the truth did seem necessary for some greater purpose, but he just couldn’t bring himself to forgive himself for the times he felt he needed to be dishonest. He feared becoming too much like Guk, who gained a reputation for ‘egregious exaggeration’.

“No… We used to live together, but recently we went our separate ways.” Zack leaned the side of his head against the window on his side of the car, flattening the curls of his disguised form’s hair, and observed the scenery they passed along the trip. “Maybe it was about time, really. I worry sometimes that I made him feel smothered, or too dependent on me.”

There was more honesty to Zack’s given story than he really intended, and it felt strange to confess his actual thoughts on the matter. Actually, he didn’t even stop to think about the situation until just now. Though he was deeply worried for Lard Nar’s safety, perhaps in some strange way there was a silver lining to their current predicament with their sudden freedom from imprisonment. His little brother could finally start living outside of the safety of his shadow, now that Zack wasn’t readily nearby so that he could turn and assess his older brother’s approval on things. 

Zack knew this day had to come eventually, because there would come a day when he wouldn’t be there to catch Lard Nar when he fell, nor reassure him when he felt doubt. He just hoped that Lard Nar was prepared for it, and that he wouldn’t resent him for his current absence. 

More importantly, Zack hoped that his sibling didn’t resent him in general. He could tell that Lard Nar was severely disappointed in the clearly problematic relationship Zack shared with Guk, but he could only imagine how his brother would react if he knew their crimes and Zack’s involvement in them. 

How do you even break it to the only person in this universe that you trust and who looks up to you that you played a part in events that would ruin life as both of you knew it? Zack’s dealings with Guk might not have been the sole factor in Vort’s downfall. In fact, it was evident that many factors went into that disaster. There were many spies littered throughout Vort, seeking to uncover all of its weaknesses. He just couldn’t escape the sinking feeling that maybe if he didn’t foolishly contribute to the endeavor, things might have turned out differently. Maybe Vort would have stood a chance, or at the very least resisted Irken rule for a little while longer. Lives could have been saved.

“Zack, are you feeling alright?” The Professor’s question stirred him from his troubling thoughts.

He sat up straight and composed himself. “Yeah, I’m just a little drowsy. It’s been a long week, that’s all.”

The entire ride, while Gaz contently distracted herself with her game, Dib was quietly paying attention to his father’s newest employee. He listened to the brief conversation between him and the Professor, and he watched him as best as he could from his position in the back of the car. Sometimes, Dib did second-guess his own hunches, but he just couldn’t shake the notion that something was off about Zack. It might not have bothered him so much, if it weren’t for the fact that his suspicions made him worry for his father’s safety.


End file.
